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Birds and Books - 2010 Archived Schedule

LAS Birds & Books Reading Group - 2011 Schedule Archive

2011 Schedule
January 18, 2011

A Sand County Almanac, And Sketches Here And There by Aldo Leopold
This special edition of the highly acclaimed A Sand County Almanac commemorates the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Aldo Leopold, one of the foremost conservationists of our century. First published in 1949, it combines some of the finest nature writing since Thoreau with an outspoken and highly ethical regard for America's relationship to the land. It is a unique book, a classic work of conservation, the forerunner of such important books as Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire, and Robert Finch's The Primal Place.

February 15, 2011

The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring by Richard Preston
Hidden away in foggy, uncharted rain forest valleys in Northern California are the largest and tallest organisms the world has ever sustained–the coast redwood trees, Sequoia sempervirens. Until recently, redwoods were thought to be virtually impossible to ascend, and the canopy at the tops of these majestic trees was undiscovered. The deep redwood canopy is a vertical Eden filled with mosses, lichens, spotted salamanders, hanging gardens of ferns, and thickets of huckleberry bushes, all growing out of massive trunk systems that have fused and formed flying buttresses, sometimes carved into blackened chambers, hollowed out by fire, called “fire caves.” Thick layers of soil sitting on limbs harbor animal and plant life that is unknown to science. Preston’s account of this amazing world, by turns terrifying, moving, and fascinating, is an adventure story told in novelistic detail by a master of nonfiction narrative.

March 23, 2011

The Geese of Beaver Bog by Bernd Heinrich
When writer and biologist Bernd Heinrich became the unwitting—but doting—foster parent of an adorable gosling named Peep, he was drawn into her world. With a scientist’s training and a nature lover’s boundless enthusiasm, he set out to understand the Canada Geese living in the beaver bog adjacent to his home. The book is part love story, part science, and wholly delightful.

April 27, 2011

Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches: And Other Answers to Bird Questions You Know You Want to Ask by Mike O'Conner.
“Mike O’Connor knows birds—I mean, REALLY knows them. He has been answering questions about birds for years, and he can deliver the straight scoop with a hilarious twist that makes it unforgettable. Reading this book is almost as fun as bird watching, and that’s saying a lot!” Kenn Kaufman, author of the Kaufman Field Guide.

May 25, 2011 and September 28, 2011

Wild America, by Roger Tory Peterson and Roger Fisher.
In 1955, Roger Tory Peterson and James Fisher published this tale of their travels across North America, from park to park, and bird to bird, from Newfoundland to the Dry Tortugas and California to the Yukon. When it was first published, it gave readers a view of their vast country. Now it is a look into our past. They broke the record for the number of birds seen in one year in North America and maybe set off a recurring scramble for “listers” to break each year. The book was re-issued in the late 1990’s. If you haven’t read this classic, you are in for a treat.

October 26, 2011

Return to Wild America, Scott Weidensaul
In 1953, birding guru Roger Tory Peterson and noted British naturalist James Fisher set out on what became a legendary journey-a one hundred day trek over 30,000 miles around North America. They traveled from Newfoundland to Florida, deep into the heart of Mexico, through the Southwest, the Pacific Northwest, and into Alaska's Pribilof Islands. Two years later, Wild America, their classic account of the trip, was published.